usermod(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES usermod(1M)
NAME
usermod - modify a user's login information on the system
SYNOPSIS
usermod [-u uid [-o]] [-g group] [-G group[,group...] [-d dir [-m]] [-s shell]
[-c comment] [-l new_logname] [-f inactive] [-e expire] login
DESCRIPTION
The usermod command modifies a user's login definition on
the system. It changes the definition of the specified
login and makes the appropriate login-related system file
and file system changes. The system file entries created
with this command have a limit of 512 characters per line.
Specifying long arguments to several options may exceed this
limit. The following options are available:
-u uid
New UID for the user. It must be a non-negative
decimal integer below MAXUID as defined in <param.h>.
-o This option allows the specified UID to be duplicated
(non-unique).
-g group
An existing group's integer ID or character-string
name. It redefines the user's primary group member-
ship.
-G group
An existing group's integer "ID" "," or character
string name. It redefines the user's supplementary
group membership. Duplicates between group with the -g
and -G options are ignored. No more than NGROUPS_UMAX
groups may be specified as defined in <param.h>.
-d dir
The new home directory of the user. It defaults to
base_dir/login, where base_dir is the base directory
for new login home directories, and login is the new
login.
-m Move the user's home directory to the new directory
specified with the -d option. If the directory already
exists, it must have permissions read/write/execute by
group, where group is the user's primary group.
-s shell
Full pathname of the program that is used as the user's
shell on login. The value of shell must be a valid
executable file.
-c comment
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usermod(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES usermod(1M)
Any text string. It is generally a short description
of the login, and is currently used as the field for
the user's full name. This information is stored in
the user's /etc/passwd entry.
-l new_logname
A string of printable characters that specifies the new
login name for the user. It may not contain a colon
(:) or a newline (\n).
-e expire
The date on which a login can no longer be used; after
this date, no user will be able to access this login.
(This option is useful for creating temporary logins.)
You may type the value of the argument expire (which is
a date) in any format you like (except a Julian date).
For example, you may enter 10/6/90 or October 6, 1990.
A value of `` '' defeats the status of the expired
date.
-f inactive
The maximum number of days allowed between uses of a
login ID before that login ID is declared valid. Nor-
mal values are positive integers. A value of -1
defeats the status.
login
A string of printable characters that specifies the
existing login name of the user. It must exist and may
not contain a colon (:), or a newline (\n).
FILES
/etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, /etc/group
SEE ALSO
groupadd(1M), groupdel(1M), groupmod(1M), logins(1M),
passwd(1), passwd(1M), useradd(1M), userdel(1M), users(1).
DIAGNOSTICS
The usermod command exits with one of the following values:
0 The command was executed successfully.
2 The command syntax was invalid. A usage message for
the usermod command is displayed.
3 An invalid argument was provided to an option.
4 The uid given with the -u option is already in use.
6 The login to be modified does not exist or group does
not exist.
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usermod(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES usermod(1M)
8 The login to be modified is in use.
9 The new_logname is already in use.
10 Cannot update the /etc/group file. Other update
requests will be implemented.
11 Insufficient space to move the home directory (-m
option). Other update requests will be implemented.
12 Unable to complete the move of the home directory to
the new home directory.
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